 Kelley A. Kempf |
sunny 16 rule Forgive me for my questions sounding dumb but I am a new photography student. I understand the sunny 16 rule but I was try to take a B/W picture of some kittens under a car and of course there was no light (shade of car) under the car so I kept my f-stop at 16 but does that apply when it's sunny but the shot your trying to get is in the shade. Thank-you in advance for any help you could shine on this subject. Kelley
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Nope. There's actually a general rule for something that's in open shade, I think to change the f/stop to f/8 as the reference. But that's open shade such as the shady side of a house where you have light reflecting from the sky and everything else in a wide expanse. Underneath a car is a confined space that changes the amount of reflected light coming in. So you have to estimate.
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John P. Sandstedt |
The sunny 16 "rule" goes back a long way and, in fact was shown on all Kodak film boxes and their dataguides. The rule - f/stop = f/16, shutter speed = 1/focal length - was always considered a starting point and not necessarily the "correct" exposure. Greg's correct - opening to f/8 would be the obvious place to start. Also, you might think about bracketting - my "old" EOS 3 lets me bracket, seeting the the position of the meter readin gin the range of the three exposures to be taken. Not sure, cause I've not it, whether my 30D works the same way.
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Jon Close |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_16 f/16 aperture and 1/ISO shutter speed is the starting point if your subject is lit by bright direct sunlight. Kittens under a car are in much darker light and would need much more exposure (wider aperture and longer shutter speed). 1/focal lenght for shutter speed is a rule of thumb to avoid motion blur due to camera shake.
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John G. Clifford Jr |
Does your camera have a light meter? If so, use it! It will tell you what the proper exposure for a medium gray card would be in that instance. You, then, have to figure out how much lighter or darker your subject is than middle gray, and set the exposure accordingly.
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Bob Cammarata |
All of the above answers are correct but the difference in reflective meter readings off a neutral object in sunlight vs shade will depend upon how bright the sun is. I once performed a simple test on a stretch of gray asphalt road on a clear sunny day. The sun was bright, the atmosphere was clear of haze and there was defined line in the road where the shadow from a building was blocking the sunlight. Bob
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John G. Clifford Jr |
"[T]he difference in reflective meter readings off a neutral object in sunlight vs shade will depend upon how bright the sun is." Well, yes. That's what a light meter does... tell you how much light is there. Again, for the original poster (OP), use your light meter to meter your subject. Look at the reading you obtained, and then compare the tonal value of the subject with medium grey, and adjust accordingly. BTW, this is what is great about digital cameras... the ability to 'chimp' (study the results of your photo and its histogram, and adjust the exposure accordingly). Take a picture, look at the results, adjust the camera, and take another! And... LEARN from this by figuring out why it is you had to change your exposure from what the meter indicated.
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Kathleen Rinker |
Bob would you then average the readings and adjust your f-stop somewhere in the middle if you were to take a picture, say f-8?
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Bob Cammarata |
A setting in the middle (f-8 in this example) would indeed be a practical starting point but only if your goal was to record as much detail as possible from both extremes. If your intended photograph includes only the sunlit portions (...or just the shaded parts) then you can trust your in-camera meter to give an acceptable reading off a neutral tone within your frame of composition. Bob
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Kelley A. Kempf |
Thank you all for your wealth of wisdom! It's so nice to have a site to go to when your learning photography and you have lots of unanswered questions. You guys have been a lifesaver! Thanks again for taking time to answer my question. Kelley
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Jonathan A. Otto |
Try this web site. I have used this using slides, but it doesn't seem to work real well with digital. http://www.mccd.edu/faculty/gwartneyj/images/Basic%20Daylight%20Exposure%20Guide.pdf
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